Chino Basin Watermaster

Peter Kavounas has served as the General Manager of Chino Basin Watermaster since 2012. Mr. Kavounas has over 35 years of experience and has previously worked for the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power as the Eastern Sierra Environmental Issues Manager, and for the City of Glendale's Water and Power Department as the Assistant General Manager-Water Services. Mr. Kavounas was elected to the Castaic Lake Water Agency Board of Directors in 1998 and served for fifteen years holding various positions including the office of Board President.

Mr. Kavounas has a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Minnesota, a Master of Engineering-Structural from UC Berkeley, and a Master of Science-Water Resources from USC. He is also a graduate of Leadership Southern California Class XII, and is a licensed Professional Engineer in the State of California.

As the General Manager Mr. Kavounas oversees all aspects of the organization: meeting obligations to the Judgment and other Court Orders, implementation of the Optimum Basin Management Program, compliance with all regulatory requirements, and business practices.

Mr. Kavounas enjoys running, nature, and reading.

Joseph S. Joswiak joined Chino Basin Watermaster as the Chief Financial Officer on April 5, 2010. Mr. Joswiak has worked in both the public and private sectors and has a diversified career in finance and administration with more than 35+ years in the manufacturing, transportation, banking, professional services and hospital management industries. Prior to joining Chino Basin Watermaster, Mr. Joswiak was the Financial Services Manager/Assistant Treasurer for Fleetwood Enterprises, Inc., a former Fortune 500 company and the nation's leading producer of manufactured housing and recreational vehicles. He was also the Vice President of Finance and Administration for Cofiroute USA, formerly California Private Transportation Company (CPTC), which owned and operated the highly acclaimed 91 Express Lanes - the world's first fully automated toll highway. Mr. Joswiak's past professional affiliations include management positions with Notting America, Inc.; CU Cooperative Systems, Inc.; California Credit Union League; Care Enterprises, Inc.; and Sony Corporation. Additionally, he served four years in the United States Navy assigned to the Naval Support Force Antarctica, which included deployments "on the ice" at McMurdo Station, Antarctica.

Mr. Joswiak earned an MBA from the University of Redlands, and received his Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration/Accounting from California State University, Fullerton.

As the Chief Financial Officer, Mr. Joswiak provides leadership, coordination and administration of all functional activities and policies related to running the day-to-day business of Watermaster which includes accounting, finance, treasury, payroll, budgeting, financial reporting, auditing, human resources, risk management, IT services, and administrative functions.

Mr. Joswiak enjoys spending time with his family and grandchildren on their camping trips, fishing and boating activities at Lake Tahoe, adventures to Disneyland, and being a member of SoCal Patriot Guard Riders.

Edgar Tellez Foster joined Chino Basin Watermaster on November 8, 2016. Mr. Tellez Foster has devoted his time to conducting research relating to the economics of groundwater and energy subsidies. He has several academic publications involving economic modeling of aquifers in California and Mexico.

Mr. Tellez Foster has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from the National Autonomous University of Mexico, a Master of Science in Environmental Sciences from the University of California, Riverside and a Doctorate degree in Environmental and Natural Resources Economics and Policy from the University of California, Riverside.

As the Water Resources Management and Planning Director, Edgar is in charge of analysis of the various projects overseen by Chino Basin Watermaster. He provides analytic expertise in issues related to groundwater quality, management and economics of groundwater.

Edgar is a passionate former rower, and also enjoys traveling and skiing.

Anna Nelson joined the Chino Basin Watermaster in December 2013 and currently serves as the Director of Administration. Before joining Watermaster, she served the private, non-profit, and publicly traded sectors in administrative management roles for HMC Architects, Masco Contractor Services, St. Nicholas School, and Culligan Water.

Ms. Nelson has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Leadership Studies from the California State Polytechnic University at Humboldt and is currently pursuing a Master of Science degree in Organizational Leadership from the University of Redlands. She also holds the Certified Administrative Professional, Organizational Management, and Technology Applications (CAP, OM, TA) specialty certificates from the International Association of Administrative Professionals (IAAP) and is a commissioned State of California notary public.

As the Director of Administration, Ms. Nelson is responsible for the management of all administrative functions of the Watermaster. This includes leading the administrative team to successfully deliver support services for all stakeholder processes, meetings, and workshops and court-related document processing and servicing ensuring a collaborative partnership with court staff in service of the parties to the Judgment. She is also responsible for all aspects of human resources management including recruitment, onboarding/offboarding, benefits administration, identifying training/coaching for all staff, and is actively engaged in all employee performance evaluations. In partnership with the Water Resources Management and Planning Director, she also oversees IT including AV and teleconferencing technologies, and website maintenance. Her duties also include managing commitments and obligations arising from the Judgment, contracts management, and facilities/vendor management.

Ms. Nelson enjoys spending time with her family and likes to stay active by running, biking, and occasionally hiking. She also enjoys the great outdoors and is always inspired after having spent time in nature, especially ziplining adventures among the flowers and trees.

Justin Nakano has been with Chino Basin Watermaster since February 14, 2005.

Justin graduated from the University of California, Irvine in 2003, with a Bachelor's Degree in Environmental Analysis and Design and a Minor in Japanese Language and Literature. In 2010 he received his Masters in Public Administration from Cal State Northridge. Since 2016, Justin has served on the Water Commission for the City of Glendora, advising the City Council on policies and programs related to the City's water.

As a Water Resources Technical Manager, Justin's duties include: coordinating the planning and construction of capital improvement projects, monitoring and maintenance of recharge basins, gathering and processing of transducer data, water level updates to the production database, water quality sampling, and providing direct supervision to the Field Operations Specialists with various duties. Justin also represents Watermaster at various conservation efforts such as the Santa Ana River Sucker Task Force and the Landscape Water Conservation Fair.

Justin enjoys spending time with family, travel, playing basketball, and obstacle course races.

Frank Yoo joined Watermaster in February 2005. Before joining Watermaster, he worked for Wildermuth Environmental Inc. as a Field Technician. Prior to his career in the water field, he operated his family business as the Owner, Assistant Manager, Accounting, Logistics, and IT Support.

Frank has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Geographic Information Systems from the California Polytechnic University, Pomona.

As the Data Services and Judgment Reporting Manager, some of his duties include preparing the annual assessment package, processing water production data, validating land use conversion and voluntary agreement requests, managing geographic data to be used in maps and analysis, maintaining Watermaster's website, programming and maintaining relational databases for record keeping and analysis, and fulfilling data requests from parties outside of Watermaster.

Frank enjoys working with his hands, whether it's improving his home, tending to his yard, building computers, or working in his garage. He also enjoys various outdoor activities such as fishing.

Alexandria Moore joined Chino Basin Watermaster on October 4, 2022. Prior to joining Watermaster, she worked as a Talent Acquisition Manager where she provided resources to client and candidate relations. Alexandria has had extensive administrative background supporting Executive Leadership.

As the Executive Assistant and Board Clerk, and under the general supervision of the Director of Administration, her duties include creating minutes, agendas, and meeting packages, providing administrative support to the General Manager, Board Members, and stakeholders, and to ensure overall productive meetings as the Recording Secretary.

Alexandria enjoys spending time with her family, taking trips to the beach, and doing home improvement DIY projects.

Ruby Favela Quintero has worked for Watermaster since October 26, 2021.

She holds a vocational certificate from Nevada Training Corporation, Las Vegas, NV.

As the Administrative Analyst, Mrs. Ruby Favela Quintero works closely with the CFO and Director of Administration and is responsible for the day-to-day routine activities of the accounting department including accounts payable, accounts receivable, payroll, financial reporting, insurances, assistance with the annual budget, annual financial audit, and the annual assessment package preparation. She is responsible for maintaining the records contained within Watermaster's document management system, as well as filing legal documents with the Court and administrative support as needed.

Ruby enjoys spending time with her family, playing tennis, off-roading, glamping, nature walks, and hiking.

Alonso Jurado joined Chino Basin Watermaster on October 2, 2018. Alonso has operated in the utilities industry for the past 14 years, starting with his time in the U.S. Navy as an Interior Communications Electrician. Alonso successfully completed three deployments and was part of the electrical maintenance division collaborating with multiple departments to maintain, troubleshoot, and repair electrical equipment onboard naval ships.

After four years of honorable service, Alonso continued his career with the City of Long Beach where he worked alongside the gas and water departments gathering and processing data on gas and water meters. After working as a meter reader for a short period of time, Alonso was promoted to Field Supervisor. During this time, he managed the day to day operations of a successful meter reading project.

As the Senior Field Operations Specialist, Alonso's duties include ground water quality monitoring, retrieving transducer data, water meter reading and various field tasks related to the Watermaster.

Alonso enjoys spending time with family and friends. He also enjoys boating, camping, ziplining and any adventurous activity. Lastly, he is also a big sports fan and enjoys attending live sporting events.

David Huynh joined Chino Basin Watermaster on October 2, 2018. Prior to joining Watermaster, he worked for Blaine Tech Services, Inc. as a Field Technician. David was also a Laboratory Intern with Orange County Public Health Water Quality Laboratory and helped conduct bacteriological testing of surface and ground water samples. While attending college, he interned for Orange County Coastkeeper and participated in environmental advocacy projects such as eel grass restoration, beach clean ups, and plastic bag ban implementation.

David graduated from the University of California, Irvine in 2016 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Earth System Science and a specialization in Hydrology.

As a Senior Field Operations Specialist, David's duties include: groundwater quality monitoring, retrieving transducer data, water meter reading and various other field tasks to help Watermaster fulfill the judgement.

David enjoys camping, fishing, and strumming away on his six-string guitar.

DWR is involved with state water plans and projects. It provides educational information on the Delta, dam regulations and state water issues.

The CDA purifies groundwater extracted from the lower Chino Basin and distributes the drinking water to member agencies.

DTSC regulates hazardous waste, cleans up existing contamination, and looks for ways to reduce the hazardous waste produced in California.

Provides domestic and agricultural water, wastewater collection and treatment services, and recycled water in a 555 square mile service area with a population of about 630,000 in western Riverside County.

Provides access to information, including source water basics, assessments and frequently asked questions.

Provides information on the methodology for deriving ambient water quality criteria for the protection of human health.

This agency is charged with administering adjudicated water rights and managing groundwater resources within the watershed and the Main San Gabriel Groundwater Basin.

MWD is a consortium of 26 cities and water districts that provides drinking water to nearly 18 million people in parts of Los Angeles, Orange, San Diego, Riverside, San Bernardino and Ventura counties.

MWDOC is a regional water wholesaler and resource planning agency managing Orange County's imported water supply, serving more than 2.3 million residents, and has a service area of approximately 600 square miles.

OCWD's primary responsibility is managing the vast groundwater basin under north and central Orange County that supplies water to more than 20 cities and water agencies, serving more than 2 million Orange County residents.

SBVMWD is a regional water wholesaler for the San Bernardino Valley. In addition to providing water, their functions also include wastewater and storm water disposal, recreation, and fire protection services.

One of nine Regional Boards of the California State Water Resources Control Board. Although the Santa Ana Region is the smallest, it is one of the most rapidly growing areas of the State.

SAWPA develops and maintains regional plans, programs and projects that will protect the Santa Ana River Basin water resources to maximum beneficial uses within the watershed in an economical and responsible manner.

Established in 1998, the Six Basins Watermaster manages the groundwater resources of the Six Basins area through the implementation of the 1998 Judgment.

A nonprofit, nonpartisan, public education partnership dedicated to informing Southern Californians about our water needs and our state's water resources.

The mission of the Water Board is to ensure the highest reasonable quality for waters of the State, while allocating those waters to achieve the optimum balance of beneficial uses. There are nine Regional Water Quality Control Boards (Regional Boards).  The mission of the Regional Boards it to develop and enforce water quality objectives and implementation plans that will best protect the beneficial uses of the State's water.

Provides management of water resources for the Mid-Pacific region. This region is organized to accomplish planning, management and operation activities.

A non-profit professional association dedicated to the advancement of men and women in water resources management, research, and education.

An international nonprofit scientific and educational society dedicated to the improvement of water quality and supply.

The California Water News Blog - Aquafornia offers daily coverage of blogs, press releases, trade journals, current magazines, and other non-traditional news sources as well as major newspaper articles.

A statewide association that consists of more than 435 public water agency members that are responsible for 90% of the water delivered in California. ACWA assist these members in promoting the development and manage reasonable beneficial use of good quality water at the lowest practical cost in an environmentally balanced manner.

Several agencies responsible for management of groundwater basins have joined together as AGWA, combining their expertise and resources for the purpose of enhancing the management of groundwater basins in California.

A non-profit organization formed to educate policy makers and the public about California's groundwater resources.

A nonprofit federation of state organizations whose membership includes rural water districts, municipal water entities, commercial companies and individuals.

An impartial, non-profit organization creating a better understanding of water issues and helping to resolve water resource problems through educational programs.

(Formerly known as AWWA Research Foundation) A member supported, international, nonprofit organization that sponsors research to enable water utilities, public health agencies, and other professionals to provide safe and affordable drinking water to consumers.